Category: Oscar Profile

Born October 17, 1886 in Colorado Springs, Colorado to Professor Edwin Lee Byington and his wife, Helene, Spring Byington grew up to become one of Hollywood’s best loved character actresses. After the death of her father, she and her younger sister, named Helen after her mother, were split up, but reunited after the death of…

Born February 18, 1932 in Caslav, Czechoslovakia (present day Czech Republic) to Anna Forman, Milos Forman’s mother ran a summer hotel. Her husband Rudolf was a professor. They were Protestants. During the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, Rudolf was named by a member of the anti-Nazi Underground as a member during a Gestapo interrogation. Rudolf and…

Born May 4, 1929 in Brussels, Belgium to a wealthy English banker and his wife, a Dutch baroness, Audrey Kathleen Ruston’s father later changed the family surname to Hepburn-Ruston, mistakenly thinking he was descended from James Hepburn, the third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. Her parents were divorced after her mother found her father…

Born Margaret Nixon McEathron on February 22, 1930, Marni Nixon was never nominated for an Oscar. They don’t give Oscars for what she contributed to films, but without her, numerous screen classics, including several Oscar winners, would not have been the same. A former child actress and singer, Nixon’s film work began in 1948 when…

Born March 1, 1921 in Brighton, England, not much is known about Jack Clayton’s early life. What is known is that he began as a child actor at the age of 8 in the British film, Dark Red Roses alongside his sister Jill. He wrote to producer Alexander Korda asking to be taken on as…

Born October 23, 1954 in a southern agricultural county of Taiwan, Ang Lee was brought up in Chinese culture and the arts, especially calligraphy. After serving compulsory military service in the Republic of China’s army, Lee went to the U.S. to study at the University of Illinois at Urbania, where he completed his bachelor’s degree…

Born December 22, 1962, Ralph Fiennes is the eldest of six children born to photographer Mark Fiennes and his wife, novelist Jennifer Lash. An eighth cousin of the Prince of Wales, with his mellifluous voice, Fiennes give the impression of a well-heeled British aristocrat when in fact he was brought up in near poverty. The…

Born June 3, 1910 in Whitestone Landing, Queens, New York, to J.R. Levy and his wife, the former Alta Mae Goddard, according to her birth certificate, Paulette Goddard told so many lies that for years her actual birth date was given variously as 1905 and 1915 while her place of birth varied from Long Island…

Born Vivian Mary Hartley on November 5, 1913, the future Vivien Leigh was the daughter of a British Army officer stationed in India and his wife whose activities included an amateur theatre group. Young Vivian made her stage debut with her mother’s group at the age three reciting “Little Bo Peep”. Educated at Catholic schools…

Born November 6, 1946 to actress Margaret Field and her husband, an Army captain and later salesman, the doctor who delivered Sally Field allegedly told her mother “you have an actor”. Field’s parents divorced when she was five and her mother later married stunt man turned actor Jock Mahoney. She began her film career in…

Born December 24, 1922 the youngest of seven children of a North Carolina tobacco farmer and his wife, Ava Gardner was discovered by an MGM scout who saw her picture in her brother-in-law’s photo shop in New York in 1941. Brought to Hollywood because of her great beauty, she had no acting experience and wasn’t…

Born November 12, 1982 in Brooklyn, New York to an attorney and his actress wife, Anne Jacqueline Hathaway’s mother Kate McCauley Hathaway was Fantine in the first touring version of Les Misérables when Annie was six. The family also moved to Milburn, New Jersey when Annie was six, which is where she grew up. .…

Born December 1, 1901 in Cleveland, Ohio, William H. Daniels got his first job in the movie business as an assistant cameraman with Triangle Film Corporation/Kay-Bee at the age of 15. For $12 per week he carried a camera and held a slate. He also loaded the film magazines and carried all the equipment to…

Born June 10, 1892 in Wichita, Kansas to former slaves, Hattie McDaniel was the youngest of thirteen children. In 1900 the family moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, then to Denver. After graduating Denver East High School, Hattie joined brother Otis’ minstrel show, which folded shortly after his death in 1916. Beginning in 1920 she sang…

Born February 28, 1923 in Highland Falls, New York to Louise (née Leonard) and James Durning, Charles Durning was the fourth eldest of ten children, only five of whom survived into adulthood. His father, a wounded World War I veteran died when he was twelve. Five of his six sisters died of scarlet fever and…